A chemiluminometric method for the determination of urea in serum using a three-enzyme bioreactor

A flow injection chemiluminometric assay for urea has been developed based on a minicolumn bioreactor packed with immobilized enzyme-bearing glass beads. The reactor contains immobilized urease, L-glutamate dehydrogenase and L-glutamate oxidase, aligned in this order (upstream to the downstream). When the sample is introduced into the bioreactor, urea is first hydrolysed by urease to produce ammonia, which is then converted into L-glutamate by L-glutamate dehydrogenase. L-Glutamate is finally oxidized by L-glutamate oxidase to produce hydrogen peroxide, which is quantified by measuring chemiluminescence emitted upon admixing with luminol and potassium ferricyanide. One assay cycle is completed within 1 minute. The method is sensitive (detection limit 0.5 nmol) and is linear in the range 0-30 mmol/l. It can be readily applied to the determination of urea in human serum, and requires no blank corrections for ammonia and/or L-glutamate present in serum samples.